Lewis Bayly

Puritan author

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Summary
Biography
Works by
Influence

Summary

Lewis Bayly was an Anglican bishop.

Died

October 26, 1631

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Biography

Source: articles.ochristian.com

A native of Carmarthen, Wales, Lewis Bayley was born in 1565. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, he receive several church preferments in England and Wales before becoming Treasurer of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London and Chaplain to King James the First. In 1616 Bayley was appointed Bishop of Bangor, remaining there until his death in 1631. His episcopate was marred by his inept handling of Church and State politics, which led to a brief spell in Fleet Prison in 1621. Bayley's devotional manual, The Practice of Piety, appeared in 1611 and is said to have been based on a series of sermons that he had given while Vicar of Evesham. By 1842 it had gone through eighty English editions and had been translated into several other languages. The Welsh version was published in 1630 and reprinted five times in a hundred years. Among those who were strongly influenced by Bayley's book were the English Baptist pastor and writer John Bunyan and Howell Harris, a leader in the Welsh revival of the 18th century.

Written originally in 1611, The Practice of Piety is a powerful work
on Christian piety and practical living. Deeply influential on the Puritan
movement, The Practice of Piety systematically investigates piety,
beginning with a detailed account of God and Christ. In it, Bayly contrasts
the "misery" of someone not reconciled to Christ with the happiness of the
"godly man" who is reconciled to God. Bayly diagnoses the various problems
that keep people from experiencing true piety, offering solutions to each so
that one may remain pious in one's everyday life. However, the majority of
The Practice of Piety is various meditations and prayers for
believers, which Bayly intended to advance piety. Extremely practical and
personally enriching, The Practice of Piety is bound to change the way
one lives.

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